Without Me
by southerncharm22
Summary: When Kendall Hart left Pine Valley she broke Ethan Ramsey's heart and vowed never to come back. But when tragedy strikes the Kane Family tree Kendall's drawn back home and with company.
1. I: Mr Brightside

Prologue: Mr. Brightside

She needed her sister but Bianca Montgomery was gone. _Binks had been gone_. It was coming up close to one and a half-years since her sister and Maggie Stone had moved to France and in all the time Kendall had never missed her sister more than she did at this moment.

Zach Slater was right.

He was right. She knew that now. She knew that the "Cambias Curse" that he had spat about was real, if only in the minds of the people involved. She could see it in the way Ethan fought for his inheritance and the way Zach fought to keep it away.

She had seen it growing in Ethan. The hardening in his brown eyes, the cold detachment with which he treated his workers, the ruthless behavior he exhibited when dealing with his corporation. The change had been slow but it had been steady and it never stopped. The only glimpses left of the Ethan Ramsey who she had fallen in love with, was in the way he touched her just as soft and just as gentle as he had the first time. For those few moments they shared at night she had her Ethan again. But the sun would always dawn and he was gone.

_The winter sun had risen this morning and painted the sky and everything beneath in shades of violet and blue and she'd watched him sleep, knowing it would be the last time she woke up beside him. He slept on his stomach, but she noted the slow rise and fall beneath the tinted sheet and the lock of thick black hair that broke loose from its disheveled mess and fell across his dark brow she swept it back up with the rest letting the silky lock run through her fingers and marking the way his eyelashes fluttered when she was so close to him. _

_She gasped when his hand had begun to move across the bed sheet, his long fingers searching the cold and empty bed beside him. She had known what he was looking for, because even in his sleep he needed her and she'd moved over, letting his fingers tickle over her skin and his sinewy arm snake around her naked waist. As she laid pressed against his chest, his dark skin feverish next to her own, she breathed him in, hoping to put to memory the scent of soap and spice but even then she knew it would never stick._

Kendall dropped her pen when her vision blurred and she quickly wiped away another tear before it spilled onto the letter she was writing. She hated her confused hormones, they only delayed her from completing her mission. And if she were ever going to finish this stupid letter of lies she was going to have to stop crying.

_He'd built the house she was sitting in now. He'd built it with every intent of shadowing any house inside the city limits of Pine Valley or out. It was a massive home built with a Victorian flare and filled with a perfect blend of classic antiques and the most advanced modern amenities. It was a thing to be envied by his father and it modeled everything Ethan had slowly become. He'd let her have a hand in every aspect of the design with more ease than a husband would have a wife. _

_She knew he wanted that, he wanted to call her his wife, he wanted her to wear his band and be bound until death parted them. But he had never mustered the courage to ask, always too afraid that her answer would be no, which would ultimately snowball into the always unspoken subject of Ryan Lavery._

Kendall folded the soft paper three times, the way she had learned in school, and slipped it into the envelope she'd addressed.

_She'd seen the truth in Zach's words, saw it blossom in Ethan. Watched, his bitterness grow inside his calm and pleasant shell. She'd tried to voice her concerns, tried to find a sympathetic ear, but Ethan always had of saying what people wanted to hear. Sometimes he had a way of saying it to well. With reassurances from people she trusted, Kendall had pushed the thought away, had focused on more urgent problems only to be confronted with the unforgivable. _

_Ethan had lied to her. _

_He'd not only lied to her but to everyone else as well. His allegations, his lies, had shattered not just one person but many and he'd done it all in the pursuit of ruining his father of holding onto an empire he saw as his birthright._

_That was why Kendall had only once choice when the doctor had come back to her in that tiny little office to deliver the confirmation she needed. It had been more than a month since he had told her and she had made all the right arrangements, called all the right people, made all the right connections. She was set in every aspect but in her mind. What she was doing was wrong? What she was doing would be unforgivable in Ethan's eyes especially after the childhood he had led? But she didn't care. She couldn't care. She was going to _

Kendall placed the envelope where she knew it could not go missed. Even if he spent the afternoon in the study or in the parlor room as he usually did, he was bound to come here. Sighing, she turned to her luggage which sat neatly packed and piled next to the bedroom door. She'd packed much lighter running from Pine Valley than she had for any weekend getaway that Ethan had brought her on, but she needed to move quickly and didn't need excess baggage holding her up.

If Ethan were to come home early, which wasn't likely but with Kendall's luck a likely possibility, he would read her letter and know that she was running. She knew him, he would do what he could to stop her, to talk things out and if that meant shutting down a major airline then so be it. She knew he could do it and he would, in two short years Ethan Ramsey and Cambias Industries arm had grown quite long. He would meet her in baggage claim or in her seat on the runway and she would look in those doe eyes of his and she would crack.

Kendall Hart would crack. _Again. _

The thought sickened her but she knew she would. She would go back to him and she would tell him everything and God knew what kind of person their child would grow to be.

Tying back her unruly hair, Kendall Hart gave her bedroom one last look. It was so big and dark and cold. Everything Ethan now symbolized. Wiping from her lashes any sign of weakness, she slid into her fox trimmed coat and fastened the three small buttons at the breast. This was it. She was leaving now. The actually physical action seemed to be draining her and, it took effort for Kendall to perch her large shades onto her slim nose and, swing her tote onto her shoulder. With a deep breath that she'd been holding for too long, she walked away.

* * *

Every morning Ethan Ramsey woke with the same thought. _Why wouldn't his father just let go? _It wasn't as if Zach Slater didn't have his own empire to run, so why did he have to keep butting into Ethan's. Why couldn't he just learn to mind his own bloody business? Why did he feel compelled to strip away the only birthright Ethan had? What kind of man would do such a thing to his only child? 

_A man who denies his own son is whom_, a bitter thought would answer and so Ethan would start his day with bile threatening the back of his throat. It was the same bitter feeling that surrounded him as he walked into his home wanting nothing more than to see Kendall.

Ignoring the maid and another faceless servant he ascended the stairs, an index finger tucked beneath his tie as he loosened the knot. He'd always disliked things wrapped so tightly about his neck and ties were no exception, untying them before they'd served their purpose was an offense that had gotten him into more trouble in school than scuffling or smoking. But his primary school days were over and he was a grown man with a woman he was anxious to see waiting for him.

He'd had a bitch of a day, another round in the American courts with what biology had named his father, and he was in no mood to be bothered with anything but the trivial. It felt like forever before he had his hand on the oval doorknob to his private quarters and as he walked in and odd sensation swept over him.

It wasn't as if the scene was out of sorts. Everything was exactly how he had left it that morning: the large sleigh-bed made, the crystal lamps upright and off, the massive oak-wardrobe closed, there was not a single item out of place, not a garment of laundry left forgotten on the floor. But like a Pomeranian the thought nagged at the corners of his mind.

Eyes narrowing, he crossed into the empty room, sliding his tiny grey mobile into the pocket of his black coat. No, it wasn't his imagination there was something not quite right about the air in his room.

"Kendall?" His voice was uncertain and weak and he didn't like the vulnerable tone that rang in it. "Kendall," he repeated, sliding his wool coat down his arms and tossing it onto the bed. The only answer he received was the echo of his own footsteps as he walked around his massive bedroom.

Opening the door to the bath, Ethan had no good reason to turn on the light, the setting sun was streaming through the french doors behind the large clawfoot bathtub and it reflected off of every sterile white porcelain surface. Revealing to him the spacious bathroom Kendall had designed but there was no sign of the designer herself.

Where was she? He questioned, biting into his bottom-lip as he shut the thick door with a snap.

He'd spoken with her less than an hour ago and she had failed to mention that she was going anywhere. Maybe, he'd forgotten, maybe she had told him she was going to Fusion or popping over to her mother's flat.

Yes, that was the most likely outcome. He would just give her a ring on her mobile and that would be the end of it. Ethan chuckled lightly to himself, he had gotten himself worried over nothing, just a lack of communication.

But just as Ethan reached to retrieve his coat, something bright caught his eye. It was a letter. For a moment he was surprised that he had missed its presence before, the bright pink envelope against his white pillowcase but he quickly recovered and snatched it up, revealing the initials he'd had monogrammed in mint-green thread. It wasn't sealed and he easily opened with a flick of his ring-finger and pulled out the letter intended for him.

The stationary was easily recognizable. It was Kendall's. He'd bought it with the intention she use it to write her sister, Bianca, but Kendall had proved to be more of a telephone and email girls and so he had taken no offense when she'd left it unused and forgotten on the desk in his drawing room. But to see that she had found use for it did bring a hint of a smile to his face.

There was no doubt in his mind that the large and loopy penmanship belonged to Kendall and the rhythm of the letter also fit her style, but it was the words inside those that sent Ethan's mind reeling.

His Kendall wouldn't write those things. His Kendall wouldn't do that to him. His Kendall wouldn't leave him this way. His Kendall couldn't.

But she had.


	2. II: Sweet Misery

_Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated and this was an immutable law._ -James Baldwin

Chapter 2: Sweet Misery

The sunset met the Gulf dying the emerald water black and painting the cloudless sky in dazzling shades of pink and orange. Golden sand dusted the water stained floorboards of the back porch of a beach house and mounded next to a pair of sandals and two pairs of small flip-flops and a few plastic buckets and shovels. It was a beautiful scene from where Kendall Montgomery was standing.

Unlike her young and always social neighbors, she kept few pieces of furniture outside and made herself comfortable in her white wicker armchair, tucking her barefeet and the hem of her chiffon skirt under her, and resting her martini on the glass table beside her. She didn't usually drink when alone but one watered down glass wasn't going to impair her judgement so assumed it was fine.

She'd left the sliding glass-door open, listening to the faint quirky sounds of cartoons on the television. A strong breeze came off the water and Kendall wrapped her sweater around her tightly, readjusting the small pile of mail in her lap.

The first two were pieces of junk mail, followed by a spring catalogue, but she discarded both onto the small glass end table, however the next envelope caught Kendall's attention. It was a letter from Binx.

It wasn't that Kendall wasn't accustomed to receiving mail from her sister, she got letters and postcards on a regular basis, but she hadn't responded to Bianca's last correspondence so this letter was certainly unexpected.

Kendall had never been much of a writer, even before she had left Pine Valley when her brother Trey was in prison she found it difficult to sit and write her feelings down on paper. But those had been the days before Ethan and those days felt like eons ago. Now writing seemed to be her only safe alternative, she couldn't risk that somehow he'd find out what she'd done or where she had gone. Binx had been worried that she was growing paranoid when she'd insisted on this form of communication above all others.

Delaying no longer, Kendall ripped open the white envelope and unfolded the familiar stationary.

_Kendall,_

_Things have happened at home . . . in Pine Valley. Things that I can't possibly explain in a letter or even in an email. Mom needs us. I know she'd probably never admit it but she does. She needs both of us. I know you own a phone and my number hasn't changed. I love you._

_Your Sister,_

_Bianca  
_

* * *

With a shaky hand Kendall set the phone down in a clatter against the glass end-table. Her sister's voice and the news it delivered about the health of their step-father had caused her vision of the night-sky to blur. 

How could this have happened? Jackson was a good man. He had been good to their mother. He had done right by his children. How could this have happened?

Kendall squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push thoughts of death and cancer out of her mind. She wanted to forget, to sit on her back porch and listen to the tide roll in and out, to the seagulls and the slow music drifting in from some yacht and forget that her sister had written and that she needed her. But mostly she wanted to cry. She wanted to cry for her mother and her sister and Greenlee and Reggie and Lily. But there was too much that needed to be done and wallowing in tears would be no good to anyone.

Binx was right. She was going home.

At this realization, Kendall closed her eyes once more and took a deep breath. She needed to soak in her life one more time, the sound of the gulf waves crashing along the shoreline, the clean almost salty smell of the air, the feel of the strong wind on her face. It was peaceful. Something she didn't expect to feel for quite a while.

* * *

Ethan took a long drag on his cigarette. He'd given up fags after Oxford but four years ago had once again picked up the habit. It had started innocently enough just one when he'd have a drink but as the stress in his life had increased so had his cigarette breaks. 

The air was cool on the verge of chilly and crisp on the balcony outside his bedroom and he kept his gaze on the grounds of his estate which looked wonderful this morning. The dawn had bathed them in pink and gold, from the freshly trimmed hedges and rose garden, to the concrete statues and fountain with its cobblestone drive. There were birds chirping somewhere in the distance and for a moment he wondered if they were native or if they belonged to him. Either way they sounded quite appropriate and gave more to the facade that his was a peaceful home.

He needed to go back inside. He needed to shower and dress. He needed to go down to the dining hall and nibble on his breakfast the way he did every morning.

But he wouldn't. He didn't have to. Not since his Father had gotten his claws into Cambias Industries.

Ethan grimaced at the thought. He could still hear the judges voice when he'd split Cambias Industries among its three remaining heirs. One third awarded to Ethan Cambias, one-third awarded to Miranda Montgomery, and one-third awarded to Zach Slater. He found it entirely unfair.

Why should Zach be given back what he'd freely given away the first time? Why should Zach be given authority over what rightfully belonged to his son? The mere thought made Ethan's stomach cramp.

Facing his father was never something he looked forward to, it was physically and emotionally draining and he hated it especially when sitting in a board room across from the smirk that cut through his father's five-o'clock shadow. Zach had bested him in the end. Even after all Ethan's meticulous planning Zach had won, had proved Ethan was a liar without even trying.

Ethan shook as he let out a smoky breath. He would never love his father or respect him, those lines had been drawn long ago, but he could be civil. He would force himself to be civil even if it made him gag.

However, there would be no facing his father or being civil today. He was going to Paris, taking over where Bianca had left off. With Jackson Montgomery's falling ill she was needed here to support her family and would sadly probably be in Pine Valley until the funeral. He'd made a list of the things that needed to be packed. There was no clear time line as to how long he would be in France and he didn't want to forget anything. But even if he did, he could merely send someone back to the States to fetch it, that was at least one comfort.

He was leaving tonight and was going to need to make two assurances, that his maid had packed all his best things and that Jasmine Goodwood, his personal-assistant, was going to be following behind him in a week. She was a beautiful young lady and a good worker which made Ethan happy that he'd hired her strictly from her résumé. When he'd told her that they were going to be going to Paris she had nearly shrieked with delight and so he'd given her the rest of the week off to get her affairs in order. Something he was slightly regretting now as he couldn't remember if he had any important appointments for today.

Ethan took another look at his blossoming grounds and stubbed out the bud of his cigarette. He had things to take care of.

* * *

Kendall let her eyes close and took a deep breath through her nose, hoping that the memory that she'd made of the ocean less than twenty-four hours ago would fill her mind, but the peace she had felt was already gone, replaced by rush-hour traffic and the obvious fake pine scent of the taxi she sat in. They'd pulled up and parked outside her mother's apartment. She knew her mother wasn't up there, Erica Kane now spent her hours at the hospital with Jackson, but Binx, her beautiful niece, and Maggie were and that meant she had to go up. 

Her fingers were on the small silver doorhandle, but Kendall couldn't pull it. She wanted to go back to Florida, back to the home she'd known for the last four years, the home she had made for herself. But she couldn't. She needed to be here. Besides in all the madness that was gripping her family, Kendall had but one comfort: Ethan would be gone. Binx had told her so, he was going to hand the Paris office for the duration of her stay in Pine Valley and when Binx left Kendall would be leaving too. But even that reassurance couldn't bring Kendall to pull the doorhandle.

Her delay must have prompted the impatient driver because he had come around the taxi and ripped open her door for her. Surprised, Kendall had just stared at him for a moment with a little surprise and resentment.

"C'mon, lady. I don't have all day," he growled out in a voice that was seemed like decades of tobacco use.

Stepping out of the cab, her sharp heels clicking against the concrete, Kendall straightened her shoulders and turned to face the squat little rude man.

"Well, I guess that means someone isn't getting a tip," she said, pulling the luggage he'd carelessly tossed in the road onto the sidewalk.

"Yeah, like I expected it," he growled again, shutting the door of his taxi.

Despite her anger, Kendall paid the surly little man but not a penny over what the ride from the airport had cost her. His wheels screeched as he pulled back into traffic and as she watched the yellow and black taxi drive off an unexpected sadness engulfed her but, the sudden hit of a sharp bone-chilling wind quickly brought her back to the present. They needed to get inside before they were caught out in the rain and one of them caught a cold.

Straightening her shoulders beneath her light jacket Kendall grabbed the handle of her large suitcase and hauled it toward the tall building before her. What was going to happen, was going to happen? There was nothing else she could do but hold her head high and wait.

* * *

_Stupid effing weather._ Ethan thought, watching fresh fat raindrops and old ones chasing each other in wet lines outside his limousine's window. He should have been on his way to Paris right now, but wind and rain had made it too difficult for the captain and so the aeroplane had to be grounded indefinitely, leaving him with no other option than to ride back to Pine Valley and try once again tomorrow morning. Such incidents would leave the board none too pleased. 

Ethan looked away from the window, letting his head fall back onto the leather headrest as he massaged his forehead. He was getting a headache. He could feel it worming into his head like snowy television and leaving everything fuzzy in its wake. He couldn't have that. He was going to need some coffee, the caffeine would combat his problem like some kind of magical remedy.

Ethan pushed down on the valet button, watching the tinted divider slide from between him and his driver. The back of a black cap and thin wisps of tawny hair were visible over the plastic divider, evidence that his driver this evening was Mitchell Hassleoff.

"Mitchell, I'm going to need to make a stop in town. Pop into a shop for a moment," Ethan ordered.

"Yes, sir," Mitchell answered. "Do you have any preferences, Mister Cambias?"

"The closest."

Ethan stared at the aisle of coffee. Who knew that they had this many brands? It was really quite ridiculous. Looking at the colorful arrangement, Ethan suddenly felt quite indecisive. Whole-bean? Dark Roast? Flavoured?

He was ready to throw in the towel, close his eyes and buy the first one he touched, when a tug on his coattail sent him spinning around.

Staring up at him was a very familiar pair of dark brown eyes. They were her mother's eyes, kind and gentle, always trusting and almost always forgiving.

"Miranda Montgomery, what are you doing here by yourself?" he asked, squatting down to be face to face with his young cousin.

"I'm not by myself, silly," Miranda answered, flashing him a smile that made her resemblance to her mother uncanny. "I'm with my cousin."

Suddenly Ethan was well aware of the young girl standing next to his cousin. She was quite a stunning child the kind of little girl that they would put in motion pictures and advertisements. Her curly black hair was pinned back with an oversized red bow that matched her sun-dress but some of her thinner locks had fallen out and landed just above a pair of bright green-eyes that oddly seemed familiar to him. Maybe he had seen her in an advertisement.

"And who might I ask is this young lady?"

"Hannah Kane Montgomery," she answered, her bright eyes staring unblinking at him.

"A Kane and a Montgomery? A bit like you and your mother, isn't she Miranda? Which reminds me, where is Bianca or Willy for that matter? I know that neither of them would have let you just wonder off."

The wash of guilt that spread over Miranda's face didn't quite touch her cousin Hannah's.

"Gave them the slip did you," he said looking into the dark eyes of his cousin.

She nodded her head fine black hair falling into her face as she looked down at her the trainers on her feet.

"Now, where are they so I can bring you two back?"

"Mama's picking out toe-mate-oes with Maggie and Auntie-"

Thunder cracked and rumbled, cutting off his young cousin's words but she unlike Hannah Montgomery didn't seem to notice and kept rambling despite the deafening noise. Just when it started to roll off and Ethan thought that the rumbling was over, a sound very similar to it continued and only when it rounded the corner did Ethan find the source.

Standing at the end of the aisle was a massive statue of a man. He was slightly sweaty and winded beneath his blue and yellow striped T-shirt. Every time Ethan had met his cousin's bodyguard all he could think about was the contradiction as his bulk honestly resembled that of the center on an American football team but his face was that of a choirboy.

"I finally found the two of you," he nearly shouted between gasps walking toward them.

"Sorry, Willy," Miranda said, biting hard into her bottom lip.

"Mister Cambias," Willy Thomas said, in way of greeting as he continued down the aisle toward the three of them.

"Good afternoon, Will," Ethan returned. "How are you doing? Well I hope."

"Very good, sir. Thank you," he answered. "But I thought you were going to Paris for Miss Montgomery."

"Oh, I was," Ethan replied, "but it's a long story that I won't bother you with."

"Well, Miss Montgomery is going to be very surprised to see you."

For a moment Ethan was taken aback by the hulking man's offhanded remark.

"As for you two," the bodyguard started addressing the two young girls standing beside them. "Why can't y'all be more like Ramsey here?"

Surprised at the use of his former surname, Ethan was about to address his cousin's protector when it became clear that the Ramsey he'd spoken of was not himself.

Virtually invisible before, stepping out shyly from behind the massive man was a small boy. His face was cast down and the only thing that Ethan could see was the silky black hair that topped his head.

"Ethan, that's my cousin Ramsey," Miranda said in way of an introduction, or as much as a six-year-old can introduce someone.

"He's my brother," Hannah said, grabbing the you boy's hand in her own and dragging him over.

Ethan wished she wouldn't do that. There was something very disconcerting about this meeting and though he wasn't sure what it could be and knew his feelings were irrational intuition told him that this was going to be something he couldn't walk away from. Sure enough, the young boy looked up at him and Ethan felt the air leave his lungs.

It was undeniable that he and his sister shared the same green-eyes, both in shape and colour down to the long dark eyelashes that lined them, and the same colour hair, though hers was curly and his was straight like Miranda's but that is where their resemblances ended. Ethan knew this face, where he couldn't place the young girls the boy's was unmistakable. He'd seen it in every reflection he'd seen since he could remember.

Irrational fear delayed Ethan from reaching out and touching either the brother or sister, but it couldn't stop his curiosity from probing further.

"Your name is Ramsey?" he asked.

"Yessir," the boy answered, staring back at his shoes once again.

"Yep, his name's: Ramsey Hart Montgomery. We're twins," Hannah said, her lips forming into a smile he now recognized, like Miranda's he'd seen it on her mother first.

He continued to stare at them, his eyes torn between which he wished to look at more.

"How old are you?" He asked, confident that he already knew the answer. They were tall for their age, nearly Miranda's height, but their voices and their skills put them a little behind their cousin's age.

"Four and a half," Hannah answered.

The sound of a rolling trolley and the click of heels was loud against the linoleum floor of the shop and Ethan stood up as a group of women rounded the corner. Two he recognized instantly, as he had only seen them this morning, but the third woman with her curly hair and thin frame made his stomach knot.

She was wearing a long jacket over a black-and-white small patterned dress but she left it open and he could see that both fell just along her sun kissed calves. She stopped short and he dragged his eyes up from her shoes to meet hers. Surprise and fear were mixed in her lime-coloured eyes for a moment but it was quickly replaced with a cold detachment. A flurry of emotions hit him at that moment but one stood out above the rest and it felt as if his stomach was in a vice.

"Bianca, Maggie," he greeted, his eyes meeting each with a polite smile. "Kendall."

TBC...


	3. III: Karma

It was a dream. She'd had it before, of course it had never taken place in a grocery store but the subconscious was a funny thing, and appeared that the outcome was going to be no different. He was always sharp in his expensive suit and not any older than the day she had left. Oddly, this dream was a bit different, he looked older, much older as if his boyish charm had been suddenly drained from him. Abruptly the realization that this was no dream hit Kendall like a ton of lead destroying her defense.

She stared at him unblinking, her heart beating a tattoo against her breast, as she demanded her heavy feet to move. But they refused as if her high heels had been glued to the linoleum floor. She could hear Binx, at least who she thought was Binx. People were speaking but their voices were distorted as if her ears had been filled with water.

A wave of nausea rolled over her and Kendall felt her stomach flop as she stood glued to the floor. She was too hot and was going to be sick. Kendall knew it.

"Kendall, are you okay?" It was Bianca again, but as she opened her mouth to say something, nothing came out and the world went black.

* * *

Kendall let her eyes flutter open, except for the dimmed flourescent light right above her head the room she was laying down in was dark. First glance told her it was a hospital room and the pale blue curtain that roped her off from other patients had been pulled around her bed. Sitting up was difficult as Kendall was uncomfortable in the shapeless and flimsy gown they had put her in but she sat herself upright.

Confusion was beginning to settle in and she quickly checked to make sure that she wasn't hooked up to any machines and she was clear except for the two small bandages on each of her forearms.

"Binx . . . Bianca?" her voice was shaky and she cleared her throat but there was still no answer. She was alone. At least she thought she was alone, until the sharp slide of the metal rings that held up the curtain, broke through the eerie silence.

"You're awake," the soft sound of her sister's voice brought Kendall around and all her confusion seemed to melt away. Unfortunately as it began to melt away one horrible fact was clear. Ethan Cambias.

"Where are Ramsey and Hannah?" It was the first question that popped into Kendall's mind and out of her mouth.

"Don't worry they're with Miranda in the cafeteria getting ice-cream," her sister answered, lowering the bedrail and sitting on the bed beside her.

Kendall sat back against her hospital bed letting the sudden rush of relief swept over her.

Bianca watched Kendall as she closed her eyes and brought a thin hand to her sweaty brow. Ever since her sister had fainted half-an-hour ago a sense of dread had driven itself into her stomach and refused to dislodge.

"I don't mean to pry Kendall, but what happened back there?"

"I don't know," her answer was too short and too vague.

"Well, passing out in the middle of a grocery store isn't exactly normal."

"Is that what happened?"

"Yes, " Bianca answered. "Kendall, are you sure you're okay?"

"Of course," she answered. "It's probably just jet lag or something."

Bianca was about to point out that her explanation made no sense when the door to the hospital room swung open once more revealing three young children and one very awkward looking couple. Without hesitation the three children barged into the room scrambling onto the bed despite the ice-cream cones each was holding.

"Miranda Montgomery, you know better," chided Maggie stepping into the room, her own hands filled with two small Styrofoam-bowls of chocolate frozen yogurt. "Give your Auntie Kendall some breathing room. 'Kay."

Following in behind her with no desserts, his hands dug into the pockets of his coat and his lips in one straight line which usually suggested some sort of stress was Ethan. His dark eyes surveyed the room quickly and landed on her sister. She could feel Kendall tighten up beside her, as if every muscle in her long frame had just constricted at once.

"Well, as I can see that everybody is okay. I think I may as well head on home," Ethan said, his eyes having left her sister's and now on her own. Even though her body didn't feel up to it, Bianca smiled and turned to her daughter who was now sitting on her girlfriend's lap.

"Give your cousin a hug and kiss, Miranda. You won't be seeing him for a while," Bianca said, holding her smile.

Ethan picked Miranda up when she walked over and held her close as he planted a kiss on her plump cheek before lightly setting her back on the ground.

"While I'm thankful for both the hug and kiss Miranda. I think I might actually stick around a little bit longer."

"Why?" It was the first time Kendall had spoken since he had walked in the room and it seemed to surprise everyone as they whirled around to look at her.

"No reason to rush off is there," he answered and though his voice was polite, Bianca sensed an edge of strain in it.

"No, I guess there isn't," Maggie added, and from the rhythm of her voice Bianca assumed that Maggie was feeling the same tensed atmosphere.

"Well, goodnight ladies . . . " he began, stopping to face Ramsey as he finished, "and the gentleman."

He left quietly, his shoes making no noise against the waxed floor of the hospital room or when he shut the door and Bianca felt Kendall's hand grip her arm tightly. It was a subtle sign and one that caught Bianca's attention immediately.

"Maggie," she started, her voice soft and airy. "I don't think the kids should be out so late, but I want to stay with Kendall until they release her."

"Gotcha'," Maggie said standing up from her seat and placing one of the Styrofoam bowls on the now empty chair."C'mon munchkins time to go."

Despite the whining it took no time for Maggie, especially after Willy showed up to help her, to herd all three cranky children out of the hospital room. Hugging and kissing her daughter, niece and nephew had brought Bianca off of her sister's bed and as she shut the door, the sense of dread that had been pooling in her stomach seemed ready to erupt. She took a deep breath, she knew that the fear that was threatening to overcome her was irrational, and slowly she turned to face her sister.

"What did you do Kendall?"

"Don't hate me," was her sister's only answer as her bright-green eyes began to water. "I can take him hating me, but not you."

"Oh, God," Bianca muttered, moving over to the only empty chair and sitting down. What she'd always suspected? What she'd always just chucked up to a silly theory? What she'd never right out and asked Kendall? What she'd always known her sister was lying about? What she'd always just forced to the back of her mind to forget and never reflect?

"What did you do Kendall?"

* * *

Ethan's hands shook as he pulled the knot from his tie and slid it from around his neck. Anger had blurred his vision and he was unable to see his room properly as he slid out of his jacket and threw it in the general direction of his bed. In a fit of rage, he'd gotten rid of the simple sleigh-bed him and Kendall had shared and replaced it with one that some king or another had once owned. It was beautiful positioned against the center wall of his room, with its dark polished posts as round as young-oak trunks and the top of the canopy brushing the high ceiling. It was cold and something Kendall would've hated, the precise reason he had purchased it. But none of that matter now. She was back. 

His mind had not stopped spinning since he'd seen her standing at the end of the aisle, his thoughts twisting and turning into unanswerable questions and harsh accusations. He couldn't find a moment's peace within his own head, not on the short drive to his home, Rosedown or even in the solitude of his bedroom.

As he readied himself for bed if just for now he wanted to push it away. Pretend that what he'd done at the hospital hadn't been done, hadn't needed to be done. But splashing cold water over his face as he stared into his reflection didn't erase her betrayal or his feelings toward it.

Grabbing the fresh rinse-cup, he pushed himself from the basin and walked away from the bathroom, slamming the thick door behind him. His arms were still trembling as he pulled his pajama bottoms up.

Just like a wave it was coming again.

He quickly unstopped the decanter he kept hidden in his night-table pouring the dark liquid into the glass he usually used to rinse away residual toothpaste. He didn't care. He just wanted it inside him, burning away his headache and his pain. It was going to help him forget and that's all that mattered. It would help him forget if just for now.

He grimaced as he swallowed his second drink and felt the unpleasant burn into his stomach. He let himself slide down the side of his bed and pool onto the floor. Why? Why had she done it? Out of all the things Kendall could've done to him.

She was going to have to pay for what she did, that was undeniable. But how? How could he even a score like this?

He felt as if he'd taken a punch to the stomach and then another and another and another. His body hurt. He hurt. He physically hurt. It was building in his chest, burning inside him until he felt like he could no longer breathe. The scene that was his room blurred once more, but this time when he blinked his vision cleared. He could feel it rolling down his cheek but he didn't care to wipe it away.

* * *

There was no pleasant way to rouse after you've passed out and Ethan's eyes snapped open. He was still on the wooden floor of his bedroom, a bugs-eye-view of the roomy space beneath his bed. He was going to have a bitch of a headache and a not so nice crick in his neck in the morning but this fact seemed to escape him as he continued to stare at the polished surface.

It was strange. So very strange the way that answers that had eluded you all day became clear in the middle of the night. His plan was going to work. Kendall might hate him. No, there was no doubt. Kendall would hate him. Her hatred would be undeniable, but he was only getting what he deserved and giving her what she deserved.

A fit of humourless laughter rumbled across Ethan's chest.

"Karma's a bitch, Kendall!" he shouted to his empty room, rolling onto his back with a smile. "I just don't have the patience to wait around for it."

* * *

Good? Bad? Tell me what you think.


	4. IV: Kings and Pawns

Chapter Four: Kings and Pawns

_It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny_. -Jean Nidetch

* * *

Two weeks passed with not much happening to Kendall Hart in Pine Valley. Which was odd because after her run in with Ethan at the Buy n Go she'd expected to have been bombarded with questions and inquiries but she hadn't, and that suited her just fine. However, Binx refusing to speak to her had been something she had been completely expecting and it was breaking her heart. 

She could see where her sister was coming from, being stuck so unjustly in the middle of two people she loved, but it hurt Kendall none the less when her sister would walk around her at breakfast with not as much as a "Good morning" to greet her. She knew what Bianca wanted, what would stop this silent stand off but she couldn't do it. She wouldn't do it. She loved her children too much.

Kendall pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she rubbed the fluffy white towel over her daughter Hannah's sun kissed arms. It was only April but already both of her children had complexions that would be envied by the most devoted tanorexic. While their pale green eyes and headstrong attitude were undoubtedly inherited from her and her kin, that easily tanned glow had come from their father's English bloodline, which had surprised Kendall as Britons weren't exactly known for their dark skin.

Despite the overhead heater that was running in her mother's bathroom, Kendall felt her skin break out into goose bumps. She couldn't think of Ethan right now, not as she sat on the wide basin of her mother's bathtub and dried her daughter off. She needed to keep moving in the right direction, being pro-active and sticking to the schedule that had run her and her children's lives for so long, which meant stage two of their bath-time ritual: getting a q tip and cleaning out her daughter's ears.

Kendall searched her mother's bathroom, but to no avail. The woman had bloody jasmine infused rose petals and stress releasing lavender fizz balls but not one freaking Q tip in the entirety of her pale pink rose garden-inspired bathroom. How was that possible? What kind of person didn't keep Q tips? But Erica Kane would always be a strange creature to Kendall.

Groaning, Kendall surrendered and wrapped the spa inspired towel around Hannah, making sure to pull loose her daughter's thick black braid so it would dry quicker. There was a small container of Q tips in the kit she kept in her purse for emergencies and she would just use them.

Kendall welcomed the cool air that hit her as she opened the bathroom door into her mother's sunlit bedroom. She ushered a disgruntled Hannah in and sat her down on the antique settee that was next to the bed so she could watch the game of My Little Pony memory that was unfolding between her brother, cousin and auntie Maggie.

Looking down at her lousy two matches Maggie felt disappointed. How was it that a couple of kids were twice as good as she at a game that didn't require that much thought? It wasn't fair really. They were barely in elementary school and she had a college education darn it!

Ramsey was beginning to flip over yet another one of the heart adorned squares when Kendall's voice pulled her eyes away from the cards.

"I'm going to get my purse from the livingroom. I'll be right back," she said, leaving a very pouty Hannah on the settee'.

"Did you want to come play, Honey?" Maggie asked, hopping to earn a smile or at least a disappearance of the narrowed eyes.

"No, thank you," she answered, crossing her thin arms as she continued to pout.

"Oh, come on," she coaxed. "Getting your hair washed couldn't be all that bad. Could it?"

"For Hannah Kane it is," Ramsey piped in. "She cries er ererytime, Mama get the brush."

"Shut up!" Hannah shot back, her bright eyes now focused solely on her brother.

"Hannah Kane Montgomery," came Kendall's voice from the hall. "Young ladies don't use words like shut up do they?"

"Ramsey stawted it," she retorted in way of defensive.

"Ramsey, stop teasing your sister. What's gotten into you?" Kendall asked, kneeling down by her daughter but addressing her son.

"Sorry, Mama," he said.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, am I?" she asked.

"Sorry, Hannah."

Hannah just huffed.

"Hannah accept your brother's apology." This time Kendall didn't phrase it as a question.

"S' okay," Hannah replied, but Maggie could hear the insincerity. Kids were growing up way too fast.

"Now, come here," Kendall said to Hannah as she turned her daughter's head to the side, pushing a thick black curl behind her ear.

"Ethan don't know how to use ," Miranda said unexpectedly.

Maggie nearly cringed at the words and put her hand on Miranda's shoulder steadying her. It was a critical time in Miranda's life that she remembers to use correct English. She and Bianca knew it was going to be somewhat difficult raising her into different parts of the world, but they thought they could manage if they remembered to teach her the correct pronunciation and the correct usage of each word

"Ethan doesn't," she corrected.

Miranda sighed and started over, "Ethan doesn't know how to use them right "

"Ethan doesn't know how to use those correctly."

"Maggie, I don't mean to be rude but could you give the grammar lesson a break," Kendall snapped and when Maggie turned to look at her she noticed Kendall looked as if she had just seen a ghost. "Now, Miranda," she continued her voice almost shaking. "What do you mean Ethan doesn't know how to use one of those? Do you mean one of these?" she asked, holding up the Q tip she'd been holding in her hands.

"Yep, I told him you're supposta put it in your ear but he put it in Hannah's mouth," she replied.

Maggie turned to her daughter. "Miranda, I don't want you cleaning your own ears "

"Seriously, Maggie. If you don't give it a rest, I'm going to throw you out the room," Kendall said. She was on her feet now, her eyes blazing and the hand holding the cotton on a stick was trembling. "Is this true, Hannah?" she asked, not looking down at her daughter.

"Yessum," she answered.

"I have to go," she stammered, grabbing the purse she had set down next to Hannah. "I have to go," she repeated.

Confused, Maggie moved off the bed to follow Kendall down the hall into the sitting-room. "Kendall, what's wrong?"

The tall brunette didn't answer Maggie as she stayed seated on the coach and continued to buckle the straps of her shoes. Her heart-shaped face obstructed by her mass of unruly curls.

"Kendall, are you okay? What happened?" Maggie asked, moving around the coffee table to get a better look at her.

"Nothing," she answered, rising to her feet. "I-I just have to go see someone right now. If they aren't too much trouble, would you mind bringing the twins to the hospital with Miranda. I was getting them ready to go, but something's come up and..."

"Yes, absolutely," she answered, unsure whether or not she should let Kendall go at all. "Are you sure, you're okay, Kendall?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, taking a set of keys out of her purse. "We're going to be just fine." And with that statement she walked out the door.

The Sun was moving into midday as Ethan stood by the windows of his office, staring out at the city through the tinted glass. Oddly, he felt no sense of satisfaction, he thought he would. The envelope of evidence and the bound booklet of thick papers that were laying on his desk was supposed to make him feel great, they were all he needed to give Kendall what she deserved but the warmonger that had been coursing through his veins for the last two weeks and the elation that he'd felt after conjuring his plan now seemed to have drained within him and taken all of his energy as well.

He couldn't even muster any anger towards his father at the board meeting that morning. He was nearly ready to call his PA Jasmine and tell her to postpone all of his appointments for the day but as he laid the Styrofoam cup of awful Earl Grey on the corner of his desk the double-entry-doors of his office were flung open and a very irate brunette stood in the threshold.

In the four years she'd been gone, she'd let her hair grow long and now her curly locks hung past the shoulder-blades that the striped cotton voile blouse she had chosen left bare. There was undeniably anger in the flush in her cheeks, but it did nothing more than enhance the bright green in her eyes. Ethan had lost count as to how many times he'd seen her in the last two weeks but it never failed that for just a moment he couldn't breathe.

"Good afternoon, Kendall," he greeted, suddenly feeling his anger and something else stirring inside him once again.

From the form of her lips and the narrowing of her pale eyes, he'd expected her to unleash a string of words that no lady should hear much less speak, but what actually happened he would suspect, surprised them both.

It was luck that Ethan had chosen to set down his cup of hot tea, because as the afternoon greeting left his lips, Kendall Hart threw herself at him.

Her hands were balled fists and the right one hit him squarely in the chest as she brought her left around to box him in the shoulder. Surprised, he stumbled backward, his rear sliding along the edge of his desk as he attempted to manoeuver away from her. But his tactic did no good as the petite brunette continued her assault, her knee barely missing a part of his body that would have certainly sent him crashing to the marble floor.

She was saying something to him, nearly screaming it between gasps for breath as her fists continued to land against his chest. She had nearly knocked the wind out of his lungs, when she had left Ethan with no choice but to grab her wrists and trip her into a nearby wing chair.

Laboured breathing mingled between them as Ethan stared at her in amazement. He would always reserve at least two hours out of his day to run, it was one of the few things that kept him sane and fit but as he tried to hold a struggling Kendall still in the simple armed chair he found that they both were nearly out of breath.

"Mister Cambias, is everything okay? Do you want me to phone Security or the police?" it was the worried voice of his secretary and for a minute Ethan feared that she might have already done it.

"No," he replied, watching the reaction on Kendall's lovely face. "That won't be necessary."

She stared up at him unflinching in her vulnerable position and Ethan waited until he heard the sound of the doors being closed before he addressed Kendall again.

"What in the bloody hell is this all about?" he asked.

"What did you do, Ethan!" Her voice was far from being calm and for the first time since she'd walked in Ethan sensed a shadow of fear over Kendall. But what could she possibly be afraid of? Surely, not him.

"Whatever do you mean?" he said mockingly, unsure of what she was speaking of.

"You know exactly what I mean," she spat back.

" Sorry, no. Could you be a bit more specific?"

"You shoving a Q-tip into my daughter's mouth ring any bells?"

Ethan felt himself smile faintly. He couldn't help it.

"Oh, yes. I almost forgot about that," he lied.

"You had no right, Ethan," she said, her wrists squirming beneath his hands. "None what-so-ever."

Ethan chewed on both his lips as he stared down at her caged in the office chair. He'd felt a sudden flaring of his hostility at her words and he forced himself to look away as he gathered himself.

"Actually, Kendall," he began his voice coarse. "I have every right and if you promise not to attack me I'll show you the paper that proves it."

Kendall agreed not to move as he reached over to his desk and snatched a white envelope off the top of a black binder and handed it to her with a shaky hand.

Ethan watched Kendall as she ripped it open and her bright eyes searched the paper.

"So?" she asked, as she reached the end. "This stupid piece of paper proves absolutely nothing."

"It proves that Hannah Kane Montgomery is my daughter and yes the one behind it proves that indeed Ramsey Hart Montgomery also happens to be my son."

"How am I supposed to believe that this isn't a series of forgeries? With the right stationary anyone could've printed this up. It wouldn't be the first time you've done it."

"It's the real thing, Kendall. You know it, now stop trying to deny it."

She sat with her head bent over the paper for a long moment, once again only their laboured breathing breaking the tense silence of the office.

"They're my children, Ethan. I gave birth to them, I raised them, I love them. I won't let you take them away from me."

"Then I think you'll be very interested in what I have to show you," he replied, handing her the thick booklet from his desk.

"What's this?" Kendall asked, head bent to the black title-less cover.

"A proposition," He answered.

They say power does funny things to your head but this was ridiculous. He was being ridiculous. What kind of arrogance had grown inside Ethan Cambias for him to believe that this was going to work? Or that she would actually agree to it? The gall he had. He couldn't be serious.

He'd finally left her to look over the pages and withdrew to the Chippendale chair behind his desk when she'd barely finished the second page before she'd recognized exactly where he was going.

"I don't know how you chaps do it on the other side of the pond but here in America you can't blackmail a woman into marrying you."

"Who said anything about blackmail?" Ethan asked, raising his eyebrows in a manner of mock innocence.

"Well, what else would you call what you're doing? Extortion?"

He stared at her for a moment, boyishly chewing on his bottom lip, "Actually, I'm just giving you a very kind ultimatum."

"If you think, I'm going to sell my children. You're sadly mistaken."

"I'd never dream of it," he answered, easily.

His light manner made it clear to Kendall that he knew he had the upper hand in this situation and was going to exploit it for all it was worth.

"Then, what is this garbage," she said, waving the thick booklet in the air.

"This 'garbage' as you so eloquently put it is merely a contract, a betrothal really, but much less romantic. Now, am I going to be getting your signature or not?"

"You want me to sign this now?"

"Preferably," he answered.

"But it's like a million pages of legalese."

"How very observant of you?" he said, dryly.

"And I don't have a lawyer," she continued.

"Don't need one," he answered. "I've had mine look over it with a fine-toothed-comb. It's quite generous really and I would even daresay that Lady Justice would agree that it's quite fair also."

"And you just assume I'm going to trust you? I don't think so," she said, throwing the thick booklet onto his desk, it slid across a few loose papers and landed in front of her ex-boyfriend with a thump and shuffle.

He didn't make any movement in his red leather chair but his dark eyes rested on the cover for a moment before he dragged them up to meet her own, "Then off to court we go."

For the last four years this nightmare had plagued Kendall and suddenly it was playing out in her mind: a vision of Hannah and Ramsey being pulled from her arms by faceless bailiffs and handed to Ethan and his army of nannies and lawyers.

"I think we're done here, Kendall," the sound of his voice just as abruptly brought her back to his study as it had forced her into her subconscious courtroom.

Kendall couldn't believe what she was about to ask but something inside her couldn't stop, "How long?"

"Oh, I presume we'll get a court date rather quickly. Probably around-"

"No, you ass, how long would our marriage last? I know you don't plan for us to be stuck together until deaths do we part... Unless, your planning on croaking soon," she said, pushing her self to end her sentence with an inquisitive and hopeful smile, even though she felt like doing anything but laughing.

"So now, you've decided to entertain the idea, have you?" he asked, his eyebrows lifted and his head tilted curiously.

"Just answer the damn question."

"No- no, sorry to disappoint you but I don't plan on dying anytime soon," he answered, casually threading his long fingers behind his head.

"That wasn't the question, Ethan and you know it. Stop playing dumb!"

"Four years," he said, and his voice as dry as autumn leaves.

"Four years!"

"Yes, four years," he repeated.

"Four years!"

"I think we both understand the time-line Kendall. No reason for us to play Echo any longer."

"You can't be serious?" she asked, her mouth open with astonishment.

"You keep saying that, but you know I am so why do you keep asking?"

"You can't actually believe that I'll stay married to you for four years," she answered, ignoring his bait.

"And why not?" he asked, bringing his hands down from behind his head and pressing his lips into a thin line. Kendall could see the playful manner that he had adopted had completely vanished from his tone and his demeanor. " It's just four _short_ years, Kendall. You know the same amount of time that you kept _my_ children away from me."

Kendall said nothing. What did she have to oppose that? He was right. She'd intentionally kept him away from his children and had done so without remorse. If it hadn't been for Jackson she would have never come back to Pine Valley, and in Florida she would have never made any effort to tell Ethan that they shared a beautiful daughter and son.

"I would never have hurt them, Kendall. I would have rather died before bringing any harm to either of them. So why- why did you do it? Why did you think you had the right to just nick what belonged to me and take it across the bloody east coast?"

"You claim you'll do anything for them but that's just not true, is it Ethan?" Not even close."

"Who are you to tell me what I would or would not do?"

"Because you made the same pledge to me, remember. You claimed you would do anything for me once. You swore never to hurt me, remember that? You swore on our love that you'd never lie to me. But you did."

"I thought that was something we'd worked through, Kendall. I thought you'd forgiven me."

"Forgiven you for what, Ethan? For lying to me when you said that you saw Zach kill Edmund or when you stood up and swore it on your supposed love for me, or perhaps it was the humiliation I suffered trying to stand by your side as you continued to lie to me and everyone else."

"I apologized then Kendall. I've apologized to you a thousand times. I bought you-"

"I bought you this. I bought you that," she mimicked. "You can't even all your debts with gifts, Ethan."

"And why shouldn't I?" he asked, leaning back in his chair once. "You seemed to enjoy it quite a bit if I remember. I certainly wasn't forcing you to accept that Chinchilla."

"I know, Ethan. I was very stupid then."

"Yes, and I was very blind," he answered.

"Still are," Kendall snapped, but suddenly a tiny worm of guilt creeped into her heart. "Why? Why do you so desperately want this, Ethan?"

He sighed. "The board has been wanting me to settle down for quite a while and now that I have two children they'll be demanding that I wed someone. I can see no reason why it shouldn't be the mother of my children and that would be you, Kendall."

"What do _my_ children have to do with how you run Cambias Industries and the stupid board?"

"Now, now Kendall," he said teasingly. "If we've learned anything from certain domestic divas it's that scandal always affects stock."

Kendall shook her head. "I don't believe you, Ethan. You could've picked any one of the high-profile skanks you've been dating, they wouldn't have exactly been Super-Mom material but that doesn't really matter these days does it?"

Ethan lifted both his dark eyebrows as he looked at her. "Then please enlighten me with your wisdom and insight."

"I think you're scared," she answered, sitting up, her hands sliding onto the edge of his desk.

His dark-eyes looking down at her hands and then back to her, he asked, "Scared of what?"

"You're scared that if you do drag me into court that you'll undoubtedly lose," she said, sitting back and crossing her thin legs. "And don't think that I wouldn't be asking for full custody."

He watched her for a moment as he chewed on the well-manicured nail of his middle finger. He was turning something over in his head, she could see it. He brought the finger down and grabbed the book once more pushing it closer to her.

"I wouldn't take them away from you, Kendall. I've seen the way they look at you and I won't be responsible for breaking my own children's hearts. That would certainly be my last resort."

"What makes you so confident that a judge would give you custody anyway?"

"It seems that you've forgotten that I'm a Cambias, Kendall. If I can get a judge to hand custody to that sadistic little bastard, JR. I'm pretty sure I can accomplish anything."

His voice was so flat and matter-of-fact that Kendall knew he was far from threatening her, he was simply stating the facts. She was letting this threat roll over her when Ethan spoke again, "Kendall, it's a simple question with an even simpler answer: Yes or no?"

Feeling that she was out of options, Kendall locked her eyes onto his dark brown, knowing that it was time to think like a Kane. "When we divorce, I want alimony _and_ Fusion," she demanded.

"Naturally," he answered.

"I don't want a custody battle, even then, I don't want to put our children through that. I want everything to be very cut and dry. I want everything written in the pre-nump."

"I agree," he answered, sitting up in his chair and running his long fingers through his black hair. "So do we have a deal or not?"

Kendall continued to stare at him. How could he be so calm about this, so collected. She felt like the freaking Little Mermaid, that somehow her soul was going to pulled out of this.

"Will you marry me, Miss Kendall Hart?" he asked, mockery tainting not only his accent but the proposal itself.

Kendall bit deep into her bottom lip until she was certain she'd drawn blood. She'd always wanted to hear those words and she had before, however coming from Ethan they seemed malicious and tarnished. She took a deep breath composing herself once more.

"Yes, I'll marry you."

* * *

Good? Bad? Tell me what you think. 


End file.
